Service car for tiered poultry cages



United States Patent 1 3,541,968

[72] Inventor RohertLVlnHuis 2,726,095 12/1955 Emery 105/366 Zeeland,Michigan 2,893,518 7/ 1959 Vanderbeck 104/93 [21] AppLNo. 684,3063,109,413 11/1963 Patchett 199/48 [22] Filed Nov.20, 1967 Prim E D A yxammeruane .Reger [45] Patented 1970Attorney-Price,l-leneveld,Huizenga&Cooper By mesne assignments to U.S.Industries, ln c., New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware [73]Assignee [54] SERVICE CAR FOR TIERED POULTRY CAGES 1,513,296 10/1924Thorne ABSTRACT: A'service car for use on elevated tiers of poultrycages, comprised basically of a bed or platform to 'which wheels areattached for carrying the car along a trackway attached to the poultrycage structure. The wheels at the rear of the car are attached theretoby a leverage mechanism such that the rear portion of the bed orplatform can be raised and lowered with respect to the trackway by usingthe rear wheels as fulcrums, and braking elements attached to theplatform are forced against the trackway by the weight of the personstanding on the platform when the leverage mechanism is released. Thatis, the car may be rolled along the trackway when a force is applied toactuate the leverage mechanism, but the car will be positively brakedagainst the trackway by the weight of the person carried on the platformwhen the actuating force is removed from the leverage mechanism.

Patented Nov. 24, 1970 l of 2 Sheet FIG! ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 24,1970 3,541,968

, INVENTOR FAQEET 4, umu Hl/IJ ATTORNEYS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Theraising of poultry in confinement cages containing a predeterminednumber of birds is a relatively recent practice in this country which isbecoming increasingly popular, since numerous advantages are to beobtained by this method. Cer tain types of cages in these systems arenow being aggregated by stacking rows of cages vertically, to provideupper and lower tiers of cages in the same building, thereby maximizingthe number of birds which'can be maintained in a building of a givenfloor area.

Caring for the birds in the upper tiers of cages is a problem i in suchsystems, since the upper tiers are too high above the ground level foran individual to examine unless he is standing upon some type ofelevating structure, and the extensive length of these elevated rows ortiers of cages make it a prohibitively tiresome and time-consuming taskto attempt to mount and dismount a portable raised support placedadjacent each part of each such tier of cages. It is also unfeasible andimpractical to attempt to build some kind of elevated walkway extendingalong the length of such tiered cages. Further, while the feeding andwatering of the poultry in such cages may be carried out throughequipment which is essentially automatically operated, a certain basicamount of care is always required which can only be provided throughhuman effort, including for example regular visual inspection of thebirds, removal of diseased or sick birds from the cages for treatment,removal of dead or dying birds for destruction, etc.

Consequently, an unsatisfied need has arisen for a vehicle which couldtravel between the elevated tiers of cages and which would provide acarrying capacity as well as merely being a movable support for anindividual to stand upon while inspecting and the like. However, since agreat deal of physical movement on the part of the user of such avehicle is required in bending and turning in many different directionsin order to look at cages and perform a multitude of different tasks, itis important that the car be stable and have a dependable and readilyactuable braking means which will hold it absolutely still unless theoperator definitely wants it to be moving.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a service carfor elevated tiers of poultry cages, in which the car rides upon atrackway comprised of a pair of rails mounted along the front of thepoultry cage structure, such that the car may move between and along thelength of two rows of oppositely-disposed, spaced, elevated cages.

The service car of the invention incorporates a structure which utilizesthe weight of the user as a holding or braking force, and which utilizesthe actuating force applied by the user to a control means to disengagethe braking force rather FIG. 5 is a side elevation similar to FIG. 4,but showing the braking means in a second operational condition.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As best illustrated in FlG. l, the service car 10of the invention is principally intended for use between a pair ofspaced, oppositely-disposed poultry cage structures 12 and 14,respectively, each includingalower row of poultry cages I12 and 114,respectively, and also including an elevated upper row or tier of cages212 and 214, respectively. As illustrated, the two cage structures aresubstantially symmetrical on either side of the spacing therebetween; inactualpractice each such cage structure generally forms either the leftand the right-hand portion of a cage construction having four rows ofcages, i.e., two back-to-back bottom rows and two back-to-back top rows.As will be understood, such cage constructions can also include tripledecks or other rows of cages disposed at positions higher than the toprows shown here, although at the present time such are not thepredominating type of construction.

Each of the cage structures 12 and 14 of the drawings typically (andnecessarily) includes a number of upright supports such as are seen at16 and 18, which supportthe upper extremities of these structures intheir elevated positions, along the horizontal extent thereof. Inaccordance with the invention, a trackway is provided by securinghorizontal rails 20 and 22 along the length of each of the cagestructures 12 and 14, such that the two wheels on each side of theservice car 10 may each ride upon one of the rails 20 and 22 as the caris moved between the upper tiers of cages 212 and 214, while the birdstherein are being inspected and cared for. For this purpose, the rails20 and 22 may take the form of elongated metal beams of generallyrectangular cross section, preferably with a rounded upper edgeextremity, and the wheels on the car maybe sheavelike in nature, havinga central circumferential groove fitting over the rounded upper edge ofthe rails just noted.

desired type may be mounted, andalso preferably with a than engage it,such that only by the voluntary application of r such actuating forcewill the user release the brake and become able to initate movement ofthe car. At all other times, as when the user is busy performing any ofa variety of manual tasks, the user need do nothing whatever to causethe car to be held stationary along the trackway, except to refrain fromdisengaging the braking means.

DRAWlNGS FlG. l is a fragmentary perspective view showing the servicecar of the invention in a typical environment of elevated poultry cages;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the service car of theinvention without environmental structure;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspective view of a portion of theservice car, illustrating parts of the braking means thereof;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of the structure of HO. 3, withthe braking means shown in a first operational condition; and

downwardly-depending ladder 28, which will provide an easy means bywhich a user may climb onto the platform 24. The platform and its cornerposts and ladder may collectively be referred to as a supportive frameportion of the service car of the invention, since these memberscomprise the structural framework of the car.

At each of the corners of the platform 24 is located a'rela tively heavyupright angle bracket 30. Within the interior cornerdefined by each suchangle bracket the upright corner post 26 may conveniently be secured, asfor example by welding; further, a pair of front wheels designated 32are attached to the car by mounting them in a rotatable manner to theangle brackets 30 located at one end of the platform or bed 24. At therearward end of the car, opposite the end just described, a pair ofwheels 34 are mounted, in a manner considerably different than that justdescribed for the forward end.

At the-rearward end of the car, a pair of lever arms 36 and 38 are eachpivotally connected tothe upper extremity of one of the angle brackets30 located at this end of the car, as by a pivot pin (F 16. 3). Theopposite extremity of each of the lever arms 36 and 38 areinterconnected, as by a member 40 (FIG. 2) that serves to provide acontrol member which is operable by the foot of the user. Near that endof each lever arm 36 and 38 which is connected to one of the respectiveangle brackets, one of the rear wheels 34 is rotatably attached, asshown in FIG. 3. From this it will be apparent that the aforesaidrearward end of the platform or bed 24 may be raised by pushingdownwardly on the control member 40, since the wheels 34 pusheddownwardly, as by the operator stepping downwardly upon control member40, the rear end of the platform 24 is raised with respect to the railsand 22 and the braking elements should then be somewhat above theircorresponding rail and disengaged from the same. However, when thecontrol member 40 is released, the weight of the operator upon theplatform 24 will immediately cause the rearward end of the platform tomove downwardly, bringing the braking elements directly into contactwith the top of the respective rails.

Quite clearly, the weight of the operator upon the platform or bed 24 ofthe service car is completely adequate to hold the braking elementsagainst the rails so securely that the car will other of the rows ofcages. On the other hand, by simply stepping downwardly upon the controlmember 40, the operator can easily lift the rearward end of the car toraise the braking elements attached thereto with respect to the rails,thereby allowing all of the wheels to easily turn upon the tracltway,and allowing the car to-move along the trackway to a desired pointthereon. At any such desired point along the trackway, the operator needonly remove his foot from the control member 40 to securely apply abraking force to the trackway which will hold the car in place until theoperator is ready to once again move onward. Preferably, a bumperelement or stop 43 (FlG. 3) is attached to at least one of the rails 20and 22 to prevent the service car from being rolled off the end of itstrackway. As illustrated, the bumpers may operate by acting as anabutment for the braking elements 42.

The service car of the invention will immediately be recognized by thoseskilled in the pertinent arts as having features not heretofore providedand very important to the safe and satisfactory operation of such avehicle. It is to be expressly understood, however, that while apreferred embodiment of the car has been shown and described, certainother embodiments are also eminently possible, as are certainmodifications of the specific embodiment which has been shown. Forexample, the trackway formed by the rails 20 and 22 could take a varietyof different specific forms, and consequently so could the wheels usedon the car. Also, the leverage mechanism comprised of the two lever armsand their interconnecting control member could take other specificdesigns, but it is very desirable that the removal of the deliberateactuating force which the operator applies to such a mechanism shouldresult in the engagement of the braking elements, rather than theconverse.

It is entirely conceivable that upon examining the foregoing disclosure,those skilled in the art may devise embodiments of the concept involvedwhich differ somewhat from the preferred embodiment shown and describedherein, or may make various changes in structural details to the presentembodiment. Consequently it is to be recognized that the preferredembodiment is for purposes of general illustration only and is in no wayintended as definitive of all possible forms of the invention.

lclaim:

1. in combination, a service car mounted for use on elevated tiers ofpoultry cages and the like, comprising: a pair of laterally spaced,generally parallel cage structures, each having a lower cage row and anupper cage row; at least two elongated rails, each one thereof mountedon an opposite one of said cage structures, on the side thereof closestto and facing the other such structure, said rails extending lengthwiseof said cage structures; a service car rollably mounted on said pair ofrails and bridging the same; said car including supportive frame meansfor carrying a user and bearing his weight; a

plurality of wheels coupled to said frame means and enga ing said rai sto move the car by rolling along the rails; and bra ing cans fornormally braking said car in response to the weight carried by saidframe means by holding the car stationary with respect to such rails;said braking means including a manually actuable control means whichwhen actuating force is applied thereto operates to release such brakingand allow the car to roll along the rails; said control means uponremoval of said actuating force operating to engage said braking meansto again brake said car and hold it stationary.

2. The combination recited in claim 1, wherein said braking meansincludes a braking element for engaging at least one of said rails orsome of said wheels upon removal of said actuating force, to therebyhold said car stationary.

3. The combination recited in claim 2, wherein said braking elementengages said rail.

4. The combination recited in claim 2, wherein said control meanscomprises a foot-operated leverage mechanism.

5. The combination recited in claim 2, wherein said control meanscomprises a leverage mechanism, and said leverage mechanism moves saidbraking element with respect to said rail upon application or removal ofsaid actuating force; said mechanism upon removal of said forceoperating to bring said element into frictional engagement with saidrail.

6. The combination recited in claim 5, wherein said braking element iscoupled to said frame means such that at least a part of the said weightof a user borne by the latter acts upon said element to urge saidelement against said rail and thereby brake said car.

7. The combination recited in claim 6, wherein said leverage mechanismmoves said frame means with respect to said rail upon application orremoval of said actuating force,

. to thereby move said braking element with respect to said rail.

8. The combination recited in claim 7, wherein said leverage mechanismincludes at least one lever portion connected between a wheel and saidframe means, to move the latter and the brakingelement coupled theretowith respect to such wheel and to the rail along which the latter rolls.

9. The combination recited in claim 8, wherein said frame means includesa generally flat bed providing a floor for said car, wherein some ofsaid wheels are connected to said bed, and wherein said leveragemechanism includes a pair of said lever portions each connected betweena wheel and portions of said frame means to move said frame meansincluding said bed with respect to such wheels.

10. The combination recited in claim 9, wherein said frame means and thesaid bed included thereby is moved generally vertically by said leveragemechanism, said braking element comprising a downwardly-oriented surfacefor contacting the upper surface of said rail.

11. The combination recited in claim 3, wherein said braking element isattached to said frame means and said braking means comprises a levermechanism for moving both said braking element and at least portions ofsaid frame means with respect to said rail to separate the brakingelement and rail and thereby release said braking, said braking elementwhen contacting said rail being forced against the same by the weight ofthe user of said car borne by said frame means.

12. The combination recited in claim 11, wherein said lever mechanism isconnected to said frame means and to at least one of said wheels, toraise said frame means by using said wheel as a fulcrum against saidrail.

